Cinnamon Rolls
by notmariah7
Summary: John works at a bakery, and hates having to go through the same routines. When something-or, someone-new changes his life, he has trouble dealing with anxiety and the fear of rejection. Thankfully, his coworkers will do anything to help John and this mysterious boy by getting them together. (Written with my friend J. M. Accord)
1. Chapter 1

**I managed to get my friend (who chooses to go by J. M. Accord) to read a Hamilton fanfic, and then she wanted to write one. So, we worked together on this. It'll just be a couple chapters, so don't get too attached.**

John walked into his job at the Schuyler Sweets Bakery on a warm summer day in Albany, New York. He grabbed his apron off of its designated hook, and tied it around his waist.

"Mornin', Eliza!" John cheered as he strode past her to the back room, where he went to help his other coworker, Peggy, with baking cupcakes for the afternoon.

"Good Morning, John!" Eliza called back, putting frosting on top of her city-wide famous cinnamon rolls.

Peggy was trying her hardest to lift the heavy flour bag to pour just the right amount into the cupcake batter. John ran up just as the bag of flour escaped Peggy's grip. He caught it before it made a huge mess that Angelica would surely throw a fit about.

"That could have been really bad." Peggy sighed with relief once John placed the bag back onto the counter. "Thanks, John." She wrapped her arms around his body, making him chuckle. John pushed her away with a small kiss to the top of her head.

"Anything for you." John winked. Peggy scoffed and crossed her arms sparking John to ask, "What?"

"You can't lie to me," Peggy said, amusement filling her eyes. "I know gay you are." John laughed as he poured the correct amount of flour into the batter then turned on the kitchen tool to stir it.

"That doesn't mean I can't flirt."

"I'm just gonna mention how weird that is, considering I'm basically your sister at this point." John blinked.

"Good point." Suddenly, the eldest of the girls, and the owner, Angelica, burst into the room.

"We open in five!" Angelica yelled, making her way to the front door.

"Four!" John continued.

"Trois!"

"Stop with the French, Eliza!" Peggy groaned.

"One!" Angelica spun the sign on the door with a flourish, making it known to the world that the bakery was open.

Much to none of their surprise, nothing happened. A total of zero people entered for what felt like forever. "Why do I keep working here?" John complained as he leaned his back against the counter and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Because you love me, remember?" Peggy nudged him in the side, making John giggle a very manly giggle.

"Interesting. Apparently I _can_ lie to you." John said with a laugh as Peggy stuck out her tongue. Just then, they all heard the familiar jingle of the bells above the door, signaling that someone walked in.

John turned around, quickly darting to his proper post at the cash register. Peggy plastered on a smile when the customer stood in front of her part of the counter, behind the wall of pastries. The customer ordered, then paid John at the register as Peggy wrapped the food and Angelica poured a cup of coffee. And this was how the day went. The bells would chime, someone would walk in and order, and John and the sisters would serve them. It had been the same routine for the few years John had worked there while he was in college. And, frankly, all John wanted was a little change.

Though, he wasn't prepared for change when it came.

They had been working for a few hours, when the door opened for the 18th time that day (yes, John had been counting). A young man walked in, and in John's general disinterest in everything that happened at the bakery, it took him a moment to actually take a look at the customer. But when he did, he certainly didn't regret doing so.

John's eyes basically fell out of his head, and his heart went _boom_. This man was the handsomest guy that he had ever seen. The way the corners of his dark eyes crinkled when he concentrated on the menu; the way his too-big sweatshirt drooped over his arms; the way his long hair bounced in its ponytail...everything about him made John's heart flutter.

All of a sudden, John was shoved to the side, his hip slamming into the side of the counter, the sudden pain tearing him out of his thoughts. Peggy took his place at the register, glaring at him before facing the customer.

"I'm sorry," Peggy sighed. "My coworker is an idiot." She gave the boy his food, then he paid and left. He was gone, and John hadn't even spoken to him. The reason he hadn't, John decided, was Peggy.

"Why did you push me?" John cried, grateful the bakery was vacant of any customers.

"Excuse me, but I just saved you from embarrassment," Peggy sassed.

"What are you talking about?" John asked. "I was just doing my job."

"Uh, I don't think 'drooling over cute guys that walk in' is written in the job description."

"I don't know what you're talking about." John's burning cheeks suggested otherwise.

"Uh-huh…" Peggy narrowed her eyes at him. "Because, to me, it looked a lot like you were staring at that guy like a love-struck version of the doofus you already are." She then returned to her side of the counter. John tried his best to compose himself as another person walked in, and he prayed to never see that boy again.

* * *

John not only saw that boy again, but he saw him so often, that he spotted a pattern. Several patterns, actually. First was that the boy only came in on Saturdays. _Every_ Saturday. Second, John noticed that he came in at exactly 10 in the morning each day. Third, the boy ordered two cinnamon rolls, and two coffees, one black and one with lots of sugar and milk. _Every. Single. Time._

Fourth was that John was somehow always busy with something in the back room whenever the boy arrived.

He decided that this routine was worse than the previous one.

It continued like this for a month and a half, John avoiding his problem every time it showed its adorable face. The girls didn't seem to mind, besides the fact that they were incredibly annoyed.

One day, Peggy brought John into the kitchen to help her prepare a new batch of cupcakes to be sold later that day. The main issue with this: Peggy was a messy baker. She poured the flour too fast, causing a white cloud to engulf both her and John. She also wanted to add much more frosting than necessary, squeezing a large mound of the bright green icing onto the pastries. John, of course, would then have to painstakingly fix her mistakes. During this process, the bells rang. John, eager to get away from Peggy for just a few minutes, wiped his forehead with his hand, then walked towards the front.

"John, wait," Peggy called out. John simply ignored and walked past both her and a clock that read 10 am.

"Hel-" John froze mid-greeting, seeing the boy standing there, staring back at him. John cleared his throat and forced himself forward, since it was too late to go back now. "Hello. What can I get you today?" He already knew what the boy would ask for, as he had ordered the same thing for the past six Saturdays. It was a good thing that John was a creep and already knew the boy's order, because he certainly wasn't paying any attention to what was said; just how it was said. The way the boy spoke with a quiet determination about something so insignificant. John's body was set on autopilot while his brain picked up on every feeling hidden in the boy's voice. Boredom, exhaustion, anxiousness? Maybe….Or maybe that was just how John felt.

"Green is my favorite color." John nearly dropped the cup he was holding as he was filling it with coffee. He hadn't expected the boy to actually start a conversation with him. "How'd you know?"

"Uh...what?" John stammered. He turned to the boy, who was biting his lip to hold back a smile. He simply tapped his own forehead, indicating that something was wrong with John's. John reached up, feeling a soft substance on his head. _Shit..._ He blushed, and quickly cleared his face of the frosting with the end of his apron. "Sorry, I-" The boy began to laugh softly, and the hair on the back of John's neck prickled up, because _oh, God, that laugh._

"It's okay." The boy smiled faintly. If John hadn't melted already, he did now. "It's nice to see you aren't being pushed around by your coworkers anymore."

"Yeah, well, Peggy is like that sometimes." John laughed nervously.

"The girl I usually see is Peggy," the boy concluded. "So, who are you?"

"Uh...J-John." _Good job on sounding like you forgot your own name._ A brilliant idea flashed through John's mind. "What's your name?"

"Well, most people call me Hamilton," the boy started. "Then again, most people don't like me."

"And those who do?" The boy smirked.

"Alexander; Alex if they _really_ like me." John picked up a pen, and rose his eyebrows questioningly at the coffees in front of him. "I drink the black coffee." John nodded, and wrote "Alexander" on the cup with his best cursive. He subconsciously drew a small heart next to the name, then consciously scribbled it out. He handed Alex the things he had ordered, getting another wonderful smile in response.

"For the record," Alex said on his way out, "I like you better than Peggy."

And so, John decided to stop hiding whenever Alex was there.


	2. Chapter 2

John walked into work the next Saturday way more enthusiastic than during the weekends prior. The sisters noticed of course, because he was normally so uninterested in his job.

"John, are you dying or something?" Peggy asked, tossing him an empty box that once held frosting containers. He shrugged, a smile still evident on his face as he tossed the box out into the recycling bin.

"Nope, just happy." Peggy squinted at him suspiciously.

"Angelica!" She called out, "I don't think John can work today. He's sick."

"I don't give a shit!" Angelica yelled back.

"I'm not sick, I promise!" John shouted out to Angelica anyway. Peggy rolled her eyes in a dramatic fashion.

"You do seem strangely excited today, though," Eliza mentioned as she walked into the room. John smiled over at Eliza as he walked back to his small frosting station. "Does this have to do with that guy you keep staring at every time he comes in?" John's face turned beet red, and as all normal people do, he denied everything.

" _Psh_ , I don't know what you're talking about."

"Peggy told us everything, John." Eliza announced, making John glare over at Peggy. She just sent him a shrug and an innocent smile.

"Just ask him out," Angelica suggested. Before John could respond the sounds of the bell above the door rang throughout the store. John breathed out a sigh of relief, then sucked in a breath of anxiousness when he saw that the clock read 10 am. He hastily adjusted his hair as he bolted for the front counter.

"I got this one, guys." John shouted as he ran to the front. He stopped abruptly when he saw that it was Alex standing in front of the line of pastries, ready to order what he always did. A grin appeared on Alex's face when he glanced over to where John was standing. However, John's eyes didn't move from the bruise that sat on top of Alex's left eye. He swallowed hard as he made his way to the counter.

"Hey, John!" Alex greeted, happily. John's once happy mood had disappeared upon seeing Alex's bruised face. However, customer service forced him into faking happiness no matter what.

"Hey, Alex." John greeted back, a smile present on his face that screamed 'fake', but Alex didn't seem to notice. "What can I get for you today?" Alex's smile dropped for a second before he put it back on. John noticed but didn't say anything because he knew it would scare him off.

"Two cinnamon rolls and two large coffees, one with lots of cream and sugar." Alex ordered, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth. "Please don't forget the cream and sugar." John couldn't help but noticed that nervous tone Alex's voice held when he said that. It was as if there was someone waiting for him that would hurt him if the order was done wrong. John wanted to say something, he wanted to ask if Alex was going home to a safe environment, but he was way to timid to do such a thing.

John turned around and began to make the coffees, when he developed enough courage to start a casual conversation. "How are you?" John asked, his voice squeaking and making the sentence more awkward than it already was. It took a moment before Alex responded.

"I'm good. How about you? Working in a coffee shop can't be that fun." Alex hurried through his words, barely meeting John's eyes. John chuckled a little at Alex's attempt at a joke.

"It's not that bad. I work with two nice women and Peggy, who've you met. Someone nice will come in every so often, though." John hoped that Alex had understood that he was referring to him, but Alex didn't say anything hinting towards that.

"That's good." Alex sounded distracted as he said that. John looked up from what he was working on to see Alex staring nervously at the clock on the wall. John finished the coffees but still had to retrieve Eliza's cinnamon rolls from the oven that was keeping them warm. John turned around and started to grab the pastries from the oven when he heard a quick, "Hurry up." come from Alex, then a quiet, "Please." John frowned to himself while he bagged the items, not sure of what to make of that. When John set the white paper bag onto the counter Alex quickly paid and bolted out the door.

 _What the hell was that?_ John thought to himself as he turned back towards the back room to continue decorating various different bakery items. Peggy noticed that John's behavior had changed within that short moment of taking care of a costumer. She decided to show her caring side for a few minutes.

"Are you okay, John?" Peggy asked, spreading bright blue frosting onto a sugar cookie. "You seem actually sick now." John just shook his head. He didn't want to talk about it, even though it was eating him inside. The rest of the day, all John could think about was the bruise on Alex's cheek and the way he ran out of the store. He decided to properly ask Alex about it the next week.

But Alex never showed up.

* * *

Peggy was manning the counter during the afternoon. John said he was feeling sick, so he went home a little after 10:30. It was the next Saturday, and the boy that John was usually fawning over hadn't shown up.

Peggy was playing on her phone, ignoring the outside world, when the bells above the door rang. She lifted her head up to see two men had walked in, one had a pony tail while the other was wearing a beanie and was quite intimidating. She stood from the stool in front of the register and walked over to the pastry counter. "Hi. What can I get you today?" Peggy stated the same words that she did for every customer.

"Bonjour." The one with the ponytail greeted. The guy next to him groaned and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Just say hi like a normal person, Laf." The more intimidating one (who Peggy decided to call Beanie Man) grunted out. Peggy stifled a laugh as she waited for their orders. "Okay, lady, let's just cut to the chase here. Our friend Alex, you heard of him?" Peggy nodded hesitantly. "Cool. He keeps talking about some guy at a bakery. John, I think. Is he here?"

"Uh. No. He left this morning."

"Dammit…"

Peggy glanced anxiously between the two people in front of her. "Listen, I'm really confused. Maybe you should talk to my sisters or something." Peggy ran to the back room, just wanting to get away from those two people. "Eliza, can you please go deal with the two customers out there?" Peggy asked when she found Eliza.

"Sure, Peg." Eliza answered as sweetly as ever.

"Can you take Angelica with you?" Peggy added when Angelica walked in. Angelica shook her head. She really didn't like dealing with customers.

"No." Angelica answered without any hesitation. Eliza started for the front of the store without Angelica, so, in a hurry, Peggy pushed Angelica towards the front and stood behind to watch.

"Hi, how may I help you two today?" Eliza asked. She was surprisingly not faking the happiness in her tone.

"Our friend needs your friend's help," Ponytail Man stated. Eliza stared at the man with a slightly confused expression.

"Pardon me, but, what?" Beanie Man rolled his eyes in frustration.

"Our friend Alex is in a really bad relationship right now," he explained. "We think that the guy he keeps freaking out about-someone named John who works at a bakery-might be able to convince him to break up with his whore of a girlfriend." Ponytail Man gave his friend a small slap.

"I'm sure John would love to help, but he isn't here-" Eliza was cut off by her older sister.

"What do you mean by 'really bad relationship'?" Angelica asked. The two men in front of her glanced at each other nervously.

"Well…" Ponytail Man hesitated to speak. "It was fine at first. Alexander and Maria seemed to really like each other when they started dating. But, now…" He shifted uncomfortably, and his friend continued for him.

"Now she just takes advantage of him and-and hurts him all the time."

"Why is he still with her, then?" Peggy wondered, finally stepping out from behind her sisters.

"Because he's broker than every other college student," Beanie Man said. Then he mumbled, "And because he's an idiot." He was slapped again.

Angelica gave her sisters a look of confirmation before turning to the two men again. "We'll make sure John comes in next Saturday. You two need to make your friend come in, too." Bright smiles formed on the guys' faces.

"Of course! Merci!" Ponytail Man cheered.

"Your welcome," Eliza smiled. "Also, what are your names?"

"I'm Hercules," Beanie man said. He pointed to his friend, saying, "and this is Lafayette."

"I'm Eliza, and these are my sisters, Angelica and Peggy." Peggy gave a small wave.

"It's nice to meet you," she said. "Even though you look absolutely terrifying."

Hercules stared at her in confusion before asking, "Now that we're introduced, can we get some of those famed cinnamon rolls?"


	3. Chapter 3

John reluctantly came into work on Saturday after Angelica threatened to fire him if he didn't. If he hadn't already looked like a dead-inside, college student while working, he certainly did now.

"John, you okay buddy?" Peggy asked. John looked over at her but didn't say a word, he just went to the back to start decorating cupcakes half-heartedly. John looked at the bright colors of the frosting with envy; he wanted to be bright again, but everytime he would get a spurt of energy, he would think of Alexander and the bruise that was on his cheek.

"John!" Peggy yelled, trying to gain his attention. He glanced up at her for a split second before returning to his decorating. "You're using the wrong color! It's purple day, not green day!" Peggy sighed when John didn't seem to hear what she was saying. So, Peggy pulled the green piping bag out of John's hand and replaced it with the correct one. John didn't notice, for even a second, that Peggy had even taken the bag out of his hand in the first place. "Jesus, John," Peggy muttered. She left John by himself while she went to talk to her sisters. John barely noticed that they were whispering about "John" and "almost time" and "they're here".

"John," Eliza called, "why don't you go work at the counter?" John sighed.

"No thanks," he said quietly.

"John, I would really love the help. It's going to get crazy in here soon and I don't think I'll be able to handle it all on my own," Eliza said. John knew that was a lie. They barely got 35 customers in a day. Still, Eliza sounded like a begging mother, so it was hard to disagree with her.

"Fine." John complied and stood from his station. He slowly made his way to the counter. Being up front would just make him think of Alexander and what was going on in his home. All he wanted to do was save him from whatever was going on behind closed doors. John stood behind the counter nonetheless, leaning tiredly against it and lazily drawing circles on the glass with his finger. In the corner of the room, two people sat at a table, and John wondered if they were on a date. He would give anything to go on a date with Alexander, but that was unlikely. He blinked, trying to clear his mind of the boy.

A few hours passed with little to no customers per usual. John was extremely bored at that point. He was actually wanting to see some people other than the two who still sat in the corner. He caught them staring at him a couple times. He wondered if they were there for a reason. John glanced at the clock with a sigh, it was already past ten, and even though he was scared to see Alexander, the disappointment was still there.

Just as John was about to tell Eliza that he wanted to work in the back again he heard the sound of the chimes above the door. He whipped around, probably too fast, and saw Alex. Then, he saw the girl he was holding hands with. This girl was looking around the bakery with her bright red lips pursed up in what looked like disgust. John restrained himself from rolling his eyes.

They walked up to the display counter. John couldn't help but hear the rude sentences this girl was spewing out. "Can you believe this place?" and "Ew, this is where you get those cinnamon rolls from?" John's eyes drifted to the couple in the back and he saw Angelica talking to them in hushed whispers. The two men looked shocked to be seeing Alex and this woman, while Angelica just looked plain pissed off. He realized that she must've heard what the girl was saying about her bakery.

"Hello? Earth to idiot!" John blinked and looked down at the girl who was frantically waving her hands in front of his face. "You're so stupid! Can't you see that you have customers?" John felt taken aback at her words. He wouldn't be surprised if she was the reason Alex had been hurt before.

"Maria, that was a little rude don't you think?" Alex spoke up in a timid voice. The woman, Maria, turned to face Alex in such a slow manner than chills went down John's spine. She whispered something harshly to Alex before lifting her foot and stomping down hard. John didn't see what she did, but he assumed she stomped on Alex's foot. Alexander whimpered in pain and looked at the floor, closing his mouth. John clenched his jaw but remained silent as she gave him her order. Customer service and all that shit.

"I want a caramel mocha with only two pumps of caramel but with two extra shots of espresso, only use non-fat milk and no whip cream or any of that fatty shit."

John suppressed an eye roll and simply mumbled, "Yeah, sure." He turned to Alex. "You want plain black coffee, right?" Alex nodded slightly, still not looking at John. "Cool." John smirked and made Alexander's coffee first, then faced Maria with an uninterested look in his eyes. "What did you want again?" Maria glared at him.

"Were you not even listening to me?" Maria asked.

"No, not really. I only heard blah, blah, blah." John used his hand to make it sound like the voice was coming from there. Alex looked up at John as if to say "Don't". John smirked, proud of himself. John turned around to start working on Maria's insane order before she could say anything back to him.

"You are so disrespectful to the people who pay your paycheck!" Maria yelled. John just clicked his tongue and pretended not to hear. "Can you move any slower?"

"Yeah, actually, wanna see?" John said over his shoulder. Maria growled in annoyance as John slowed his pace.

John froze when he heard Alex's shaking voice. "C-can you please move a little faster?" John turned around and smiled widely.

"Sure, anything you say, Alex." John winked before going back to his task at hand. He was proud of himself when he heard the two men in the back bust out laughing. It only took five minutes for John to complete Maria and Alex's order.

"Took you long enough." Maria snapped.

"Here's your plain black coffee, Alex, and your caramel mocha with extra whip cream, _princess_." John smirked once again when Maria screeched. He would've winced from the loud noise if he wasn't so entertained.

"I am not paying for this!" Maria yelled. John dusted his hands off before leaning over the counter so he was close to her ear and whispered,

"Deal with it, sweetheart." That's when all hell broke loose.

"How dare you?" Maria screamed. "I want to speak to your manager!" John nodded as he watched Angelica saunter up to the counter.

"May I help you?" Angelica asked in the fakest happy worker voice ever.

"Your stupid ass worker here, what's his name, John? Yeah, he got my order wrong and refuses to make me a new one." Maria snapped as she pointed at John. Hatred blazed in Angelica's eyes as she looked from Maria to Alex.

"I'm sorry, you've been disrespecting my workers, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Angelica said politely. However, Maria wasn't having any of it.

"You know what, your place looks like shit! I'm glad to leave! I could buy this whole place with the wave of my hand and you'd be on the street!" Maria blew up. "Come on, Alex, let's get out of here." John watched as Alex stayed rooted to the spot where he was standing. "Alex, let's go." Alexander glanced at John and took a deep breath.

"No," Alex said. Maria raised her eyebrows.

"Excuse me?" Alex tore his hand away from her.

"No, I'm not leaving. I'm sick of you telling me what to do. I'm sick of you using me and hurting me and being a total bitch!" Alex was yelling by the end of his speech. "I can't be with someone like you anymore."

"You're nothing without me." Maria seethed. "You were nothing before me."

"I'm nothing _with_ you." Alex said. "I'll be something _without_ you. And you'll still be the same piece of shit without me." Alex was fighting back and John was loving every second of it.

"Alex, please, let's talk this out. Let's just-" Alex cut her off.

"No. Just leave, Maria." Alex pointed to the door. Maria wiped her eyes quickly and snatched her purse.

"If you come with me right now, I won't do something I'll regret later." Maria said through gritted teeth. Alex huffed, looking annoyed. "I won't ruin you."

"You can try, Maria," Alex said, "but I will never come crawling back to you."

"Fine. Die alone for all I care." With that, Maria stomped out of the bakery, leaving her caramel mocha on the counter. Alexander sighed as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

After a minute of silence, John asked, "Hey, are you okay?" Alex looked up at John and smiled. John was confused for a second before Alex spoke.

"I've never been happier." Alex responded, making his way back to the counter. "Thank you."

"What?"

"You helped me, in a way. Thank you." John just nodded awkwardly in response. He glanced at Angelica and the two people sitting in the back. He didn't know who they were, but they were gesturing for him to say something else. "Um-"

"You want to go out sometime?" Alex wondered, beating John to it. "I mean, I just, you're really nice and kinda cute-well, not 'kinda'. You're cute and funny and I just...well, I'm single now, so-"

"Yes," John said, seeming to surprise Alex.

"Wait, really?"

"Yes." John and Alexander smiled at each other for a moment, before Angelica cleared her throat, getting their attention.

"I can give John the next Saturday off, if you want," Angelica said.

"Perfect. I can meet you here and we can go to lunch?" Alex suggested.

"10 am?" John guessed.

"Of course." Alex looked at the clock on the wall. "I have to go. I'll see you next week."

"Yeah." John watched as Alex began walking away, then froze and went back up to the counter. John gasped in shock when Alex stood on his toes to kiss him on the cheek.

"Bye!" Alexander giggled as he walked out of the bakery, a new, confident spring in his step.

As soon as Alex left, Peggy ran out from the back room with wide eyes. "I had to go to the bathroom," she stated. "What'd I miss?"

* * *

 **Heh...sorry this took so long...it took a while to figure out, but WE DID IT! WHOO!**

 **Ahem...we're really excited about finally finishing this.**

 **Okay, well, we hope you liked it! Byeee!**


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